1Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, TR-15030 Burdur - TURKEY2Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Department of Antropology, Faculty of Arts and Science, TR-15030 Burdur - TURKEY3İstanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, TR-34320 İstanbul - TURKEY
DOI :
10.9775/kvfd.2019.23841
In the study, it was aimed to investigate by geometric morphometric analysis to shape of the skull and mandible in adult male wolf and
German Shepherd Dog. The skulls and mandibles were photographed from left side. The shape of skulls and mandibles were optimized
by using tpsDig programme with 20 landmarks (in skulls), and 13 landmarks (in mandibles) on 2-D images. The skulls and mandibles were
superimposed via PAST software and the principale component analysis was conducted. How and where the shape changes occurs in the
cranium was shown using MorphoJ software. Also, morphological differences of the cranium between two groups were determined. As
a result, German Shepherd Dog"s cranium were significantly seperated from the wolf"s cranium in respect of cranium shapes. In skull and
mandible, about 70% and 78% of the total shape variation, is reflected by the first three principal components, respectively. Shape differences
were most distinct in parietal, occipital, zygomatic, temporal bone and posterior mandible between two groups. The findings of the study
are important in terms of evaluating the materials to be extracted from the area of archeological excavation and creating a database that will
provide to prominent information about the history of domestication.
Keywords :
Wolf, German Shepherd Dog, Mandible, Skull, Geometric morphometry